On August 12, 1973, a 33-year-old Jack Nicklaus pocketed his third of five PGA Championship titles right there at Canterbury Golf Club in Ohio, his home state. But what turned this, his 14th major, into legend was that he finally topped his lifelong hero, Bobby Jones, launching his lead in men’s majors that nobody, not even Tiger Woods, has sniffed close to. But that August was the start of something historical for a reason.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I fouled up so many chances to win a major tournament previously this year. I didn’t play sensational golf, but just good solid golf,” said Nicklaus on Sunday after winning the title. It made sense, after all, he had been unable to win any of the other three majors of the season.

But that week, he started the tournament with a 72, then charged up the board with a second-round 68, landing just one stroke shy of the halfway lead. A third-round 68 gave him a one-stroke edge heading into the fray. Then came Sunday.

Come final-round time, his fellow pros, including Bruce Crampton, Mason Rudolph, and Don Iverson, dropped off the pace, one after another. After the front nine, Crampton and Rudolph were two shots adrift. Yet on the back nine of Ohio’s 6,852-yard monster, neither could rival Nicklaus’s unflappable form. He’d notched two birdies up front, followed by eight straight pars, capping it with a birdie on the 15th for eight under overall.

That bogey on the 18th didn’t faze him one bit, locking in a four-shot win over Crampton. Then came the records.

Nicklaus cemented his spot atop the majors leaderboard, whether you include amateur majors (U.S. Amateur and British Amateur) or not. If you do count them in, then Bobby Jones had 13 total major wins, while Nicklaus’s 1973 PGA Championship win bumped him to 14 (two U.S. Amateurs plus 12 pro majors). If you’d rather not count them, then Walter Hagen led the record until that Sunday with 11 wins in the professional majors. Nicklaus’s win pushed him to 12. Either way, Nicklaus had just become the undisputed king of majors.

Jack Nicklaus was well-versed in Jones’s major record, though it didn’t light a fire under him. Not until after his 1970 The Open win, when Associated Press writer Bob Green pointed out he trailed by just three, did it hit home for real. Then, three years on, he sailed right past it.

But this was hardly a surprise. 1962 through 1986, he won six Masters, five PGA Championships, four U.S. Open titles, and three The Open titles.

We don’t know if Nicklaus thought about breaking Jones’s record at that particular moment or the fact that he had the potential to win more. But on Sunday of that 1973 week, he was busy marvelling over his favorite shots of the week.

Back in 1973, when asked about his week’s favorite shot, Nicklaus tipped his cap to Sunday’s second on the 13th. He’d bombed his drive into the right rough, then carved a 215-yard No. 4 iron around a tree to hit the green. The ball ended 30 feet shy of the pin for a two-putt par.

It was his fifth title of the season. He had just become the highest-earning golfer of the time. Yet, it was his connection with Jones that made it so special. That is one of the reasons, in fact, that we still talk about the 1973 PGA Championship so fondly.

Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones shared an inspiring friendship

Bobby Jones loomed large in the Nicklaus family, first for Jack’s dad, Charlie. Charlie’s first interaction with Jones came at age 12, trekking to Scioto Country Club to see Jones snag the 1926 U.S. Open. Five years on, Scioto hosted the Ryder Cup; Charlie was milling in the parking lot when a fan pegged him for Jones, whisking him into the clubhouse till it was clear that it was, after all, a mistake.

Harmless flub, sure, but it only increased Charlie’s hero worship for Jones.

It was less surprising, then, that Jack took a liking to Jones as well. They first crossed paths when Nicklaus was 15, during the 1955 U.S. Amateur at Country Club of Virginia. Jones was there to toast the 25th anniversary of his Grand Slam win. During a practice round, Nicklaus ripped a 3-wood into a gale, landing it on the par-4 18th green.

When Jones caught up to him later, he told Nicklaus, “Young man, I’ve been sitting here for a couple of hours and you’re only the third person to reach this green in two. Congratulations.” Nicklaus thanked him in return. And that was it.

The pair linked up next in 1957 at a Coca-Cola-sponsored junior tourney. He handed Nicklaus the trophy and chatted one day about the kid maybe teeing it up at the Masters someday. Two years later, Jack qualified and got a note from Jones inviting the father-son duo to his cabin. Similar missives popped in Jack’s locker annually. They’d swap stories on Jones’s swing origins, sportsmanship, bouncing back from setbacks, and more.

Jones passed away in 1971. Talking of that week and the months that followed, Nicklaus said, “When he passed, well, I missed my visit down with him [in the Jones Cabin]. It was a big empty hole for the week. I enjoyed our conversation. I always enjoyed being with him. He was a great guy and I always walked away learning something. I was a big fan. He was my idol.”

Four years after Jones passed away, in June 1975, Nicklaus gave him a tribute by announcing Jones as the first honoree of the Captain’s Club for the Memorial Tournament.

Indeed, Jones was his idol. Indeed.